Priebus: Citizens of certain countries will be barred

Citizens of countries suspected of harboring or training terrorists will be temporarily barred from immigrating to the U.S., Reince Priebus, the incoming White House chief of staff, said Sunday.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Priebus responded to questions about retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s suggestions that fearing Muslims is rational. Flynn is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be his national security adviser.

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“There are some people within that particular religion that we do fear,” Priebus said of Islam. “We don’t believe in religious tests and ... are not blanketly judging an entire religion, but, in fact, we will try to pinpoint the problems and temporarily suspend those areas from coming into the United States until a better vetting system is in place.”

For countries where trouble might be festering, he said: “We’re going to temporarily suspend immigration from that country, or region, until a better vetting system is put in place."

Priebus also supported Trump’s statements about halting federal funding to "sanctuary cities." New York City and Los Angeles are among dozens of such cities, where police departments don’t actively enforce some federal immigration policies, a practice that has been in place for decades.

“This is a matter of negotiation,” Priebus said.

Asked specifically about the city of Los Angeles, which received about $500 million from Washington last year, Priebus said: “I can’t imagine that too many Americans are watching this and thinking that it’s a good idea for a city to allow for blanket amnesty, ignoring federal law — and then saying now give me $500 million.”

“No, that’s not the way life works, and I think that the Trump administration is going to explore this issue and, I think, resolve some of these major problems happening all across the country.”

Separately, speaking on ABC with Martha Raddatz, Priebus gave no indication that Trump’s administration would investigate Hillary Clinton after Trump and some of his supporters said during the campaign that they would.

Trump will do everything he can to follow through on his campaign promises "but also protect our country here and abroad,” Priebus said.